A public library, responsible to and funded by local government (Gisborne District Council) H.B. Williams Memorial Library, along with 12 community libraries, serves the 45,000 people of the Gisborne & East Coast district.
Located in the first city in the southern hemisphere to see the morning sun - Gisborne, the library has, by New Zealand standards, had a long history. It first opened in 1869 as Turanga Library, in a room in the courthouse at a time when there were no roads overland and visitors came by horseback or boat to the district.
As the library grew it moved to various sites until 1967, when a local family gifted a new building in memory of their father. Thus the H.B. Williams Memorial Library was established much as we know it today. The building is a classic example of 1960's architecture and has adapted to the advent of the information technology of the 1990's well.
The trust was formed in 1983 to provide additional funds for the purchase of books for the Gisborne District. An independent charitable trust, it is administered by three trustees who decide each year how the money should be spent.
Donations from the public are added to the capital fund. Only the interest is able to be spent on books so every donation made to the Trust continues to work for the community.
Anyone can contribute to the trust...
Stained Glass Window
Inanahi ki Tenei Whakatipuranga
Yesterdays, Yesteryears and the time in between until Tomorrow
Unveiled in 1993, the window measures 39.5 square metres, completely covering one end of the building. Ninety five percent of the glass is handblown, handmade glass selected in the United States of America by designer Steve Hutton. Maori kaumatua monitored construction, ensuring the window was historically and spiritually correct. The design depicts the passage of time and development of Tairawhiti (Gisborne District) from volcanic origins to present day. Midway through the design is an impression of Te Toka a Taiau, a rock symbolising the boundary that lies between the Ngati Porou and Rongowhakaata tribes. Crystal and shards of gemstones have been incorporated into the window encouraging close inspection.
Postcards of the window are available for purchase.
About H.B. Williams - Library Benefactor.
In October 1962, it was announced to the people of Gisborne that the family of the late Mr. H.B. Williams wished to give a memorial to commemorate his many years of close relationship to Gisborne and the surrounding district. The memorial was to be one that would bring the greatest benefit to the community as a whole.
It was decided that the most fitting memorial would be a public library. The sum of the family's most fitting generous gift was 70,000 pounds. After the family chose a suitable site and acquired the land, plans were made and foundations laid, culminating with the grand opening in April 1967.
Heathcote Beetham Williams was born in 1868, at Frimley, Hastings. His education extended from a prep school in Akaroa to Cambridge University where he gained a BA in law. He remained in Hawkes Bay managing his father's farming interests until he took up the lease from his father on "Turihaua Station" and moved onto the land in 1901. He is renowned for establishing the famous Turihaua Angus Stud.
H.B. was involved in many other ventures, sometimes involving his brother A.B., sometimes not. For instance H.B. had a 50-50 partnership with Robert Kerridge spanning many years. It is well known, the huge chain of movie theatres the Kerridge partnership owned, but how many were aware of HB Williams connection?
He owned a wharf in Vancouver, Canada, along with his brother at one time, and H.B.'s versatility found him backing a gold dredging company on the West Coast near Greymouth, to his great misfortune. Companies such as wool mills and cement works were added to his list. It would seem though, that land was where H.B. really showed his strength, and as a result of working the many thousands of acres he acquired, he made his name in cattle.
H.B. and his family barely survived the slump of the 1930s because of his and A.B.'s generosity to others. Honoring guarantees on bank accounts of farmers and returned servicemen almost bankrupted them.
H.B. also felt a great obligation to the continued friendship between the Williams family and the Maori people, a relationship which went back to when H.B.'s grandfather William Williams became Bishop of Waiapu. Sir Apirana Ngata paid the greatest tribute to the Williams family in a speech to the House of Representatives when he said: "I doubt whether any family in the country - I doubt whether any family in any country in the world - has done so much for any group of people as the Williams family has done for the Maori of the East Coast." This speech came at a time that Sir A.T. Ngata was dispelling aspersions that the Williams family had acquired land around the East Coast in a less than fair manner.
H.B. Williams died on May 3rd 1961.
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